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Edward/Behind the Scenes
Background Information Inspiration The inspiration for Edward himself came from the Rev W. Awdry watching trains on the Great Western Railway as a child. He said in an interview with Brian Sibley for The Thomas the Tank Engine Man that, to him, the noise of the locomotives' exhaust almost sounded like dialogue - for example, the larger engine having trouble climbing the hills would appear to be saying, "I can't do it, I can't do it" and the smaller engine helping them would sound like it was saying, "I will do it! I will do it! I will do it!" Later, the Reverend Awdry told his son a bedtime story about an engine who was sad because he was never taken out of the shed for being old. Upon being asked what the engine's name was by his son, the Reverend Awdry picked the name "Edward" out of thin air. Behind the Scenes Awdry's model File:TheReverend'sEdwardmodel.jpg File:File-K.M.R. Ltd kit advertisement|Advertisement of the K.M.R 2P kit that Awdry used to build his Edward. Television Series Edward first appeared in the first series episode Edward and Gordon and has remained one of the main characters of the series since. Gauge 1 model Edward’s original model was custom built with a perspex body shell and used a Märklin locomotive as a donor for the chassis and various parts. It was painted using automotive paint and lined with red automotive pinstripe tape with the numbers being custom cut vinyl stickers. Edward’s drive wheels and tender wheels was sourced from a gauge 1 locomotive made by Märklin, the BR 55, and the bogie wheels were from a bogie of the BR 78. The front bufferbeam came from the BR 78 and the rear bufferbeam came from the BR 55. The handrails were also sourced from Märklin locomotives. Edward’s perspex model was originally AC powered as this is how the Märklin locomotives were powered. During a refurbishment his AC motor was replaced by a DC motor to allow for easier running and maintenance. File:Edward&OldCoaches.jpg File:RobertGauldGalliersAndEdward.jpg File:Edward'sModelSpecification.PNG|Edward's model specifications File:Edward_front_contact_sheet.jpg File:Edward_side_contact_sheet.png File:EdwardModelRear1.png|Rear of Edward's model During the production of the tenth series two new models of Edward were built. This was due to the original model being 22 years old at this point and the tight filming schedules meant there was very little room for emergency repairs . The new models were made out of brass and equipped with a CNC machined aluminum chassis powered by a DC motor. From this point the perspex model would only appear in scenes that would damage the brass models . File:EdwardStrikesOut84.png|Edward's brass model The eye mechanism had two servos, one for up and down movement and one for left and right movement. The up/down servo was attached to the body. The left/right servo had a rod attached to the arm, which connected to a bracket. The eye balls were coupled to the bracket and locked in by the face-plate, so whenever the servos were powered, the eye balls would move however the crew member desired. Sixteen different facial expressions were sculpted for Edward. The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made of a silicone mould. Some of Edward’s faces were duplicated in case the crew needed to a face to look dirty and clean on the same day of shooting. One of Edward's production made face masks is now owned by Twitter user ThomasTankMerch. The twelfth series marked the beginning of the show's transition into CGI and the characters' faces were animated through CGI with the aid of motion capture animation. The physical models' molded faces were replaced by white targets with triangles to fix a computer-animated face in post-production. Edward’s resin faces were only used in background shots. File:SteadyEddie3.png File:HenryGetsItWrong15.png File:JamesWorksItOut31.png Edward’s gauge 1 models had gone through several aesthetic changes in the television series: * Series 4: ** The lining on his wheel arches became slightly thinner and moved outward. ** His whistle was at a lower pitch. * Series 5: ** In Happy Ever After, his whistle returned to its original pitch. * Series 6: **His paint was given a matte finish. ** His safety valve disappeared. ** His eyebrows become smaller and longer and are raised up slightly. * Series 8: ** His eyebrows become thinner. * Calling All Engines!: ** His eyebrows are lowered and become even thinner. * Series 10: ** The riveting on his front bufferbeam disappeared. ** His buffers were moved downward and widened in length. * Series 12: **His face became bigger, now matching his smokebox/boiler size. ** His pupils also became smaller. ** His eyebrows become thicker and change shape. ** The gap between his second and third boiler bands became larger. Edward has been seen mistakenly been seen wearing James’ faces in Edward and Gordon and a promotional image for the first series, and one of Donald and Douglas’ faces in Saved from Scrap. File:EdwardwithJames'face.jpg File:EdwardandGordon54.png File:SavedfromScrap20.png Donald has also been seen mistakenly wearing Edward’s angry facemask in Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree. File:ThomasandtheMissingChristmasTree16.png Both of Edward’s brass models are now on display. One is on display at Drayton Manor, and the other is at the Hara Model Railway Museum. The model that is on display at Hara Model Railway Museum had previously been on display at Nitrogen Studios. File:EdwardDraytonManor.jpg|Edward's model at Drayton Manor File:DraytonManor2018Edward.jpg|Current state (2018) of Edward's model at Drayton Manor, Courtesy of Wylie (Forrest) Queenan. https://twitter.com/Wylie_Forrest_Q File:EdwardNitrogenStudios.png|Edward's model at Nitrogen Studios File:EdwardHaraRailwayModel.jpg|Edward's model at the Hara Model Railway Museum Close-up model File:TheSadStoryOfHenry56.png File:Coal17.png File:Bertie'sChase3.png|Inside Edward's cab File:Bertie'sChase7.png File:Bertie'sChase8.png|Sidney Hever, the fireman on Edward's cab roof File:Bertie'sChase11.png File:SavedfromScrap22.png|Edward's whistle File:OldIron49.png File:OldIron56.JPG File:TheGreatDiscovery226.png File:DowntheMine67.png File:ThomasandtheTrucksBehindtheScenes.png|Edward's cab on set for Series 1, with rolling background behind. CGI model Edward has had modifications throughout the CGI era. These include: * Hero of the Rails: ** He slightly decreased in height. ** His buffers became bigger and moved towards the centre of his bufferbeam. ** His pupils returned to their larger size. ** His roof is slightly more curved than it was in the model series. * Series 17: ** He gained a lamp and tail lamp. * Series 18: ** His handrails were painted black. * The Adventure Begins: ** His handrails were painted silver again. ** The inside of his tender became blue. ** His side rods become silver. ** He gains brake shoes behind his second driving wheels. File:EdwardCGI.png File:EdwardHeadOnCGIPromo.png|Head-on CGI promo ''Thomas & the Magic Railroad'' Edward was not in any known draft of Thomas and the Magic Railroad. According to Phil Fehrle, there was not enough screen time and opportunity to utilise him in a way that added any real value to the film. He was the only engine of the original seven created by Awdry not to appear. Voice Actors * Keith Wickham (UK; Hero of the Rails onwards) * William Hope (US; Hero of the Rails onwards) * Mark Moraghan (A Friendly Farewell) * Yasuhiro Takato (Japan; first - eighth series) * Nozomu Sasaki (Japan; Calling All Engines! onwards, excluding An Engine of Many Colours) * Kan Tanaka (Japan; An Engine of Many Colours only) * Øyvind Borgemoen Lyse (Norway; Hero of the Rails - Tale of the Brave) * Herman López (Latin America; Hero of the Rails - Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure; excluding Tale of the Brave) * Javier Olguín (Latin America; Victor Says Yes and The Missing Christmas Decorations; one phrase as an error) * Gustavo Melgarejo (Latin America; twentieth series onwards) * Christos Topulos (Germany) * Henry König (Germany; Audio Books only) * Wojciech Chorąży (Poland; Hero of the Rails onwards) * Fabrice Trojani (France and French speaking Canada) * Petteri Hynönen (Finland; Hero of the Rails - Tale of the Brave, excluding the sixteenth series - twenty-first series) * Petrus Kähkönen (Finland; Big World! Big Adventures! onwards) * Reinder van der Naalt (The Netherlands) * Dan Schatzberg (Israel) * Celso Alves (Brazil; Hero of the Rails onwards) * Jordi Estupiña (Spain) * Anh Tuấn (Vietnam) * Galbenisz Tomasz (Hungary) * Alexander Kotov (Russia; thirteenth - sixteenth series) * Denis Bespalyy (Russia; King of the Railway - eighteenth series) * Anton Savenkov (Russia; nineteenth series onwards) * Um Sang-hyun (South Korea) * Loukas Frangoulis (Greece) References Category:Behind the Scenes Category:Images of Edward Category:Images from behind the scenes